In the morning was another softball game. This field wasn't nearly as nice as yesterday's. There was very limited seating and one had to tromp through the grass and weeds to even get to it. Our team won 13 to 6 (... or something like that. There was no scoreboard here).
Warming up
A swing and a miss
In baseball, a batting average is calculated by the number of hits divided by the number of times at bats. It is written as three decimal places and spoken as if it were multiplied by 1,000 (a player with a batting average of .300 is said to be "batting three-hundred"). A season batting average higher than .300 is considered to be excellent, and an average higher than .400 is nearly impossible. When you think about it, these are pretty terrible percentages to be celebrated. Would you get on an airplane if the pilot only had a 30% chance of landing it?!
At one point, I was standing on the sidelines with a man also taking pictures of his granddaughter... who promptly hit a line drive right at us! Of course, the ball looked a LOT bigger and closer through the telephoto lens!
Safe!
After the game, we made a forray out to South Coast Plaza.
The wide freeways that are the norm out here
A network of overpasses
South Coast Plaza is an upscale-luxury shopping mall in Costa Mesa. With over 250 stores, it is the largest mall on the West Coast and one of the largest shopping centers in the US. It gets around 24 million visitors per year and generates over $1.5 billion in sales annually. It was started back in 1967 by members of the Segerstrom family in one of the family's lima bean fields. It continued to expand drastically through the 1970's and 80's.
We parked on the west side (left) and took the pedestrian bridge over.
Classic Southern California... palm trees and shopping
A glimpse up
Carousel Court
Crossing the Bridge of Gardens
Approaching the larger portion of the mall
Lovely arrangements of orchids and prayer plants decorated the corners.
Christian Dior (1905 - 1957) was a French fashion designer. His family had hoped he would become a diplomat, but he preferred art.
Gabrielle "Coco" Bonheur Chanel (1883 - 1971) was an inspirational French fashion designer who helped free women from the constraints of the corset and popularized a more a sportive, casual feminine image in the post-World War I era. She is best know for her perfume, Chanel No. 5.
This display was based on one of her quotes: In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.
Upon closer inspection, it was incredibly done!
Heading back across the bridge
The benches were 'hidden' within the bushes...
... to create a "sitting on a shrub" effect.
The highlight of the shopping trip was a visit to See's Candies. Founded in 1921 by Charles See, this was a brand that most of us out here grew up with.
Mmmmm.... free samples!
... and a few for the road!
This was the price of gas out here, although at some places it did get up to almost $5 per gallon. That's expensive for the States but cheap compared to some other countries!
For dinner we met with old-time family friends at the delicious vegan/raw food restaurant Au Lac. We didn't have a reservation but they managed to put together a table for us relatively quickly anyway.
Westminster and Fountain Valley are home to a large Vietnamese population.
One of the cutest bus stops ever!
Au Lac was founded in 1987 by Mai Nguyen, who after recovering from a serious illness, wanted to promote vegetarianism to the local community. The restaurant expanded in 2001 when Chef Ito arrived to include vegan living foods. The term Living Foods pertains to uncooked vegetables, nuts and sprouted grain that have been allowed to retain their nutrients and digestive enzymes. The kitchen contains no stoves but rather only blenders and dehydrators.
"Chef Ito coined the term 'Humanese' with the belief that we have more in common than we realize. Rather than see ourselves as separate, we are all merely - and wonderfully - human. No labels, no man-made borders to divide us. Further, it implies that to survive and thrive as humans, we must have compassion for everything - animals, for plants, and above all, for each other. Nobody is perfect. Breathe. Forgive. Let it go. Thus, Au Lac specializes in Humanese cuisine."
Learn more at www.aulac.com
Some of us hadn't seen each other in over 30 years!
Bill, having never tried vegan food before, isn't sure what to expect!
Some absolutely delicious salt and pepper tofu! Even Bill thought so!
Spring rolls
Chow Fun and Veggie Noodles (complete with fake shrimp)
Lemongrass Chick'n (fake fowl)
Glass noodles
Dessert was a free California roll, made with coconut and avocado.
The cute door signs on the restrooms
